When asked to name one single highlight of their career thus far, a magical moment that kicked adrenalin into overdrive and validated all the gear-hauling, long tours and tireless, nonstop self-promotion, Boston-based trio 27 prevaricates. Eventually, drummer Neil Coulon comes up with a pretty darn good one.
"Hearing Maria say "Hello Tokyo," he decides. "That was a highlight."
This amazing rock band with the un-Google-able name is Maria Christopher (ex-Dirt Merchants), Neil Coulon, and Ayal Naor (ex-Spore), and they've spent the last three years filling their journals with more road stories than most indie rockers could ever imagine. They've made friends, fans and memories from Austin's SxSW to Philly's Relapse Records Contamination Festival to the week long Rock Sound Magazine event in London. They appear on a DVD with Mastodon and Neurosis, Maria sings on the new Isis release (Panopticon), and they've wowed throngs at the Masters of the Universe Music Fest in Reykiavic, Iceland.
It's been two years since 27 released their first full-length, Animal Life (Kimchee Records). With their hometown producing a sea of garage and punk releases, 27's Animal Life settled firmly into the category of dark experimental pop, veering from swirly loops and trippy ambience to lush and sultry rock. With textured soundscapes, infectious groove and absolutely captivating vocals, 27 turned the heads of anyone who owned Portishead, Radiohead, Massive Attack and Pink Floyd.
They also caught the attention of wunderkind Aaron Turner, Isis frontman and founder of Hydrahead Records. Hydrahead is typically known for louder, challenging bands that force rock critics into coining new next-to-meaningless genres such as "post-metal" and "art-core." Y'know, bands like Anal Cunt, Coalesce, Botch, Dillinger Escape Plan, Cave-In, Neurosis, and Soilent Green. Hydrahead sister label, Tortuga, is home to Scissorfight, Milligram (RIP), and 5ive. And now, 27.
Putting this hypnotic, moody band on a label like Hydrahead might seem like throwing the sublime Beth Gibbons (Portishead) into the back of a van with the schizo Mike Patton (Faith No More, Dillinger Escape Plan) just to see what happens. Though the move raised a few eyebrows, neither Hydrahead nor 27 seem fazed by it. "Hydrahead has been really great to us," says Ayal, "and we love them very much."
In what can only be described as a dizzying series of events, 27 find themselves with a sophisticated new EP, "Let the Light In," with a Japanese version out on Daymare Records and an Australian release on Transelectric Records. All the elements that made Animal Life such a favorite in so many markets are firmly in place---Maria's sultry, commanding voice curving around Ayal's moody, lush guitars and Neil's locked-down groove. Some of the experimental weirdness is replaced with a warmer, catchier pure rock.
Subtley of arrangement and brawny production gives a gutsy vibe that shows maturity. 27, it seems, has found their groove.
Noise: How'd you guys find each other? Were Dirt Merchants and Spore already broken up when 27 formed?
Ayal: Dirt Merchants were still around when Maria and I started playing together. Spore had long since broken up. Though Maria and I had met a few times when Dirt Merchants and Spore played together, we didn't really get to know each other until I started playing in a band called Galveston with her sister Terri. After Galveston broke up, Maria and I started writing songs together. Eventually when the Dirt Merchants parted ways, 27 became the primary focus for both of us. I'd worked with Neil for a few years and he was completely fanatical about music, so we asked him to play with us. Fortunately he agreed.
Noise: Do you know that "27" is near impossible to Google?
Ayal: The name has pros and cons. Not being easily searchable online is definitely a con, but people can eventually find us by searching with other related key words. One of the big pros is that we often are at the top of the list when bands are listed alphabetically.
Noise: Who are the primary songwriters?
Ayal: It varies with each song. Sometimes they come out of free jams where we all participate equally, and sometimes someone will bring in a riff or idea which everyone adds to. Ultimately we each contribute significantly to every song.
Noise: Assign a percentage to these ingredients and tell me what makes a good, tasty 27 song: Groove. Lyrics. Melody. Arrangement. Other.
Maria: I don't think it's something you can quantify. As a fan of many styles of music, I might like a song that's all groove with no or minimal lyrics. I might find another song to move me in a different way because of melody and thoughtful or clever lyrics. I think each song or mood calls for something different. Subtleties in arrangement and production can also turn a good song into a great song... or the opposite!
Noise: I have heard 27 compared to Pink Floyd, Helium, and some bands I've never heard of. What's the weirdest "comparison" you've heard? One that made you say "wha...?"
Maria: I think it's funny that we've been compared to Neurosis as well as Rod Stewart. It's like being a Rorschach image of music. I think Neurosis is a bit of a stretch, but we do happen to have a song with Rod Stewart as a working title.
Noise: My first 27 experience? Outside, Davis Square, Art Beat. Do you like playing outside, in the day, or do you feel like vampires in the sunlight?
Maria: We love playing outdoors during the day. The audience is usually made of people of all ages...kids, grannies, families... that you wouldn't normally see in a rock club. It's the best.
Ayal: I have to say playing outdoors in the daylight is a bit weird for me. Maybe it's just because I play an oddly tuned baritone guitar, but for some reason when we play outside during the day it always seems like my strings are vibrating way too much and are about to break.
Noise: I asked that last question because when I think of 27, I get a sense of this laid-back, cool, sultry, groove-oriented wash. Moody.
Maria: I think on the newest CD, "Let the Light In," the moody songs are moodier, but the songs that lean toward the heavy might be slightly heavier, and the "poppy" songs are even "poppier." I don't think we're a band that tries to achieve an overall sound. Instead, I feel we're a song driven band attempting to make each song reach its potential.
Noise: Pick three songs from Animal Life and tell me specifics about how you approached the writing differently on "Let the Light In."
Maria: It's not that we intentionally approached it differently. Part of it is probably just that we've been playing and touring together longer. Also, some of the songs on the newer CD went on tour with us before we recorded them. That wasn't so much the case for the songs on Animal Life... it was more of the opposite. We toured with those songs after recording them. Once you've lived with a song for a while, it sort of develops on its own. If we were to re-record earlier songs of ours, I think they'd sound a lot different now. We even play them a bit differently live... heavier. Plus, I think we take more chances and try more ideas out when we're recording now. More so than before.
Noise: You've done some amazing touring in support of both CDs, but recently you've been kicking ass. Tell me about something that has given you a rush.
Maria: Getting to play far away places like Japan and Iceland, which are so culturally different, can really blow you away. And having someone we've never met join our email list from some remote part of the world and tell us that we're one of their favorite bands... it's completely gratifying. It's particularly awesome when their English isn't very good, but the interpretations are really endearing and sweet.
Neil: Other cool things? Our first show ever in Europe opening for Isis was sold out. We got feature in Kerrang!. We ran out of merch in Iceland. We were the only band on the bill in Nancy, France having never been there and we played to a packed room of people really loving it, screaming for more and not letting us off stage, eventually playing every song we knew...too cool. Also, playing squats in Europe, where people feed you and treat you like a human and offer you a place to crash... something you just don't get in the states.
Noise: Wow! Is that all?
Neil: Having a club full of people sing "Happy Birthday" to me in Icelandic, thanks to Maria! Basically, touring as a band and meeting people from all over the world is the ultimate rush.
Noise: Wow!
Neil: And winning best artwork in The Noise for Animal Life!
Noise: Yeah! Well, what are your plans now that the new CD is out?
Maria: We've toured quite a bit already to help get the record out there. We're sticking around Boston for the winter to write and record some new stuff, but we're planning to start touring in the spring to visit some of the places where the CD has been more recently released... like Australia. We haven't been there yet, but are so looking forward to it!
www.27.vg
Uploaded to Youtube by NotAFantasyMan
on Oct 11, 2010
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